Marine seeks answers in grandson's death

Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 10:27 AM.

“I have little faith that this case is going to have its day in court,” Carter said.

Carter said he recently received an anonymous call that the babysitter’s boyfriend was the one responsible for what happened to Julius but left before family or the authorities arrived.

Lee said that as far as he knew, law enforcement had worked to investigate every lead in the case.

Crime Stoppers of Jacksonville-Onslow County is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest in the case. JPD Investigative Services Division can be reached at 910-938-6405 and Crime Stoppers can be reached at 910-938-3273. Callers do not have to reveal their identities.

Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lindell.kay@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter and friend him on Facebook @ 1lindell.

More than a year after his grandson died in the care of a Jacksonville babysitter, a Camp Lejeune Marine officer still seeks answers and resolution.

Maj. Donald Carter’s 2-year-old grandson suffered fatal head injuries while at a babysitter’s house April 12, 2011, and died a couple of weeks later, according to the child’s death certificate, which labels his death as a homicide.

Police and prosecutors said they’ve thoroughly investigated the case and didn’t find enough evidence to make an arrest.

Julius Kahlil Lewis Carter died April 29, 2011, after being “hit by other(s) with a blunt object, dropped and or thrown against hard surface” 17 days earlier, according to his death certificate, which lists the boy’s cause of death as “closed head injury due to non-accidental injury.

Onslow County District Attorney Ernie Lee said he was satisfied with the investigation by detectives with the Jacksonville Police Department.

“I, along with two assistant district attorneys, met with the family and detectives with the Jacksonville Police Department on March 28, 2012, and at that time, the Jacksonville Police Department agreed to follow-up on additional matters involving this case,” Lee said.

The follow-up was primarily speaking again with witnesses that the detectives had spoken to during their initial investigation, Lee said.

“The detectives re-interviewed those witnesses that would speak with them,” Lee said. “The case has remained open by the Jacksonville Police Department, and this office has continued to have contact with law enforcement.”

Carter said he feels as if his grandson has no voice and no one who is in a position to help cares. Cater said he wasn’t happy with the investigation and wanted to see police commit more to the case than what he sees as a cursory look.

“I see people go to jail all the time for child abuse and the child is still alive,” he said. “Julius is gone. He is dead and no one has answered for that.”

Carter said he didn’t understand why the babysitter wasn’t at the very least negligently responsible.

Lee said being simply negligent was not enough.

“Generally speaking, there is a common misconception that an act of ordinary negligence that results in the injury or death constitutes a crime,” Lee said. “The law requires more than ordinary negligence for criminal prosecutions.”

If a person commits criminal negligence that results in injury or death, charges may be appropriate if the case can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, Lee said, adding that criminal negligence is defined by law as being more than mere carelessness.

State law requires that an individual’s “act was criminally negligent, if, judging by reasonable foresight, it was done with such gross recklessness or carelessness as amount to a heedless indifference to the safety and rights of others.”

Lee said that in all criminal cases, prosecutors shoulder the burden of proof of admissible evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.

“This office must evaluate every case based upon that legal concept,” he said.

Carter did not tear up during an interview last week as he did last year when first speaking to The Daily News about his grandson’s death. Carter said his pain has been superseded by his resolve.

“I’m not going away,” he said. “I’m not going to stop. I will be talking to the mayor next and whoever it takes. I have lost faith in the police and the detectives in my grandson’s case.”

Carter, who has been in the Marine Corps for 30 years, said he brought his 23-year-old daughter and her son, Julius, to Jacksonville after being stationed at Camp Lejeune in 2010.

Carter said his daughter returned to Julius’ babysitter’s home April 12, 2011, to find the babysitter downstairs and Julius upstairs, laying with a blanket on the floor of a bedroom.

“His head was swollen twice its size and he wasn’t responsive at all,” Carter said. “He had blood crusted in his nose and ears.”

The child was taken to OnslowMemorialHospital and airlifted to VidantMedicalCenter in Greenville. The boy never regained consciousness and in a painstaking decision, the family removed him from life support two weeks later.

Carter said the entire family remains in a deep state of depression.

In a letter to the N.C. Attorney General, Carter asked whether it was normal for such a case to be handled in the manner he believes it was.

“I ask myself if this is the new normal in child protection. If Julius was a celebrity or a relative of a high profile person would he receive more attention? These type of things really hurt the public’s confidence in the justice system,” he said in his letter.

The AG’s Office responded that its investigators could not look into a case without the request of law enforcement or prosecutors.

“I have little faith that this case is going to have its day in court,” Carter said.

Carter said he recently received an anonymous call that the babysitter’s boyfriend was the one responsible for what happened to Julius but left before family or the authorities arrived.

Lee said that as far as he knew, law enforcement had worked to investigate every lead in the case.

Crime Stoppers of Jacksonville-Onslow County is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest in the case. JPD Investigative Services Division can be reached at 910-938-6405 and Crime Stoppers can be reached at 910-938-3273. Callers do not have to reveal their identities.

Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lindell.kay@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter and friend him on Facebook @ 1lindell.